Formerly Simply Accounting. An accounting software system for small to midsize organizations based in Canada.

Product Overview

Sage 50 Canada is a desktop accounting software enhanced with cloud connectivity. It offers extensive features for financial management, inventory tracking, and banking integration, aimed at providing small to mid-sized businesses with comprehensive accounting solutions and operational flexibility.

Pros

  • Comprehensive financial management
  • Cloud connectivity and flexibility
  • Robust inventory management

Cons

  • Higher cost for advanced features
  • Limited mobile app functionality

Target Market

Small to mid-sized businesses needing detailed financial and inventory management.

Not Recommended For

Freelancers or very small enterprises seeking a simple, low-cost accounting solution.

Features include bill payments, tax calculations, inventory management, departmental accounting, and budget forecasting. Additionally, the Quantum version supports up to 40 users, provides role-based security, and delivers comprehensive business intelligence and reporting capabilities. It can be deployed cloud-based or on-premise.

Features

  • Financial Management: In-depth financial tracking and reporting tools, including revenue analysis, expenses, and net income assessment.
  • Cash Flow & Banking: Bank integration for transaction management, supplier payment tracking, and cash flow oversight.
  • Inventory Oversight: Detailed inventory management with tracking of stock levels and order statuses.
  • Cloud Connectivity: Desktop software enhanced with cloud capabilities for flexible, anywhere access and collaboration.

Pricing

Sage 50 Canada has 3 different versions:

Plan Price
Pro Accounting $655/year or $64.92/month
Premium Accounting $966/year or $92.17/month
Quantum Accounting $4,554/year or $410.34/month
  • Integrated Services: Additional services for payroll and HR available, with bundle pricing options to extend the software’s capabilities.
Starting Price
$655 /year
Price Range Learn More
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Product Overview

Developer Overview

  • Name Sage
  • Year Founded 1981
  • Headquarters Newcastle upon Tyne ,England ,United Kingdom
  • Type Private
  • Est. Size Over 10k employees
  • Est. Revenue Over $1B

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User Reviews of Sage 50 Canada

Anonymous
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

Sage 50 Canada Review

September 16th, 2024 • Role: End User

I just use the basic bookkeeping yet I pay over 2000.00

Pros

it is a good program

Cons

the overall price each year is outrageous

Anonymous
  • Health Care Providers & Services
  • 251-1K employees
  • Annual revenue $10M-$50M
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★
Features
★★★★★
★★★★★

The system has very limited functionality

May 24th, 2024 • Product Experience: 2+ years • Roles: Implementor & End User

The system has very limited functionality. The amount of manual data entry our team has is extensive. All of our vendor and purchasing managenent is done via Excel sheets. The reporting is also lacking. If we try to do any type of predicitive anaylsis, we again have to use Excel. We have multiple work arounds just to get through the day.

Steve
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

Horrible. been trying to get refunded for over a month

October 10th, 2023

Horrible. been trying to get refunded for over a month.

Pros

Nothing. We can't use it.

Cons

You took our $, we have a Mac, and you won't refund us.

Anonymous
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

Unbelievable Price Increases

June 21st, 2022 • Roles: Purchaser & End User

I have used various versions of this software since 2009. It has, in that time, slowly become more expensive and requires extra fees for payroll and other basic services most to all companies need anyway. Once you pass the learning curve the program is powerful and useful but its price has over tripled in the last 7-8 years. Nearly to the point that for a cost of a yearly subscription I could have someone do the books for me while I sip on a Margarita. Are you reading these SAGE? You have lost a customer in me 100%.

Pros

When a version used to work for 3-4 years without issue.

Cons

Their unbelievable price increases.

Anonymous
  • Commercial Services & Supplies
  • 1-10 employees
  • Annual revenue $0-$1M
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

The bad: Forcing users to pay for automatic employee payroll

June 7th, 2022 • Roles: Purchaser & End User

I went from Simply to Sage50 ProAccounting desktop in 2021. I do not use online help or cloud service and have always prepared employee paychecks manually since there are only 6. Once joining in 2021 for simple package at $183, in 2022 they want to increase to $577 stating I will be supported. When asked what type of support I will be getting, my chat stopped. I need basic package, no cloud, no support, manual input of employee pay. How can the extra $400 be justified if I will not be needing whatever this support was?

Pros

I did not sign up for Cloud.

Cons

Forcing users to pay for automatic employee payroll when only a few employees exist.

Mel
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

Their service is horrible

July 26th, 2021 • Roles: Purchaser & End User

Sage 50 Acctg program is an overall well rounded system that works great for small to large businesses. Since it changed from Simply Accounting, Sage 50 has been moving to cloud based and monthly premium service plans which for some small businesses are very costly. As well their service has fallen way short. After hours on the phone, and hours of troubleshooting an error I was getting, which was not allowing me to open by .SAI file; I worked it out myself, even after 2 technicians could not open it, and I was told it would cost our non-profit company $799 to open a service plan and upgrade to the 2021 program. I started a new company on my 2020.2 program and once it opened, I closed it. Then I restored from a previous backup and magically it was all corrected and up and running. This makes me believe that their programs are set to lock you out and look for support so they can charge you $$ for a new plan. Shame!

Pros

Easy to use. Can customize easily. But customizing their invoices is not as simple.

Cons

Their service is horrible. And their prices for a service plan are ridiculous.

Anonymous
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

Straightforward and intuitive to use

January 6th, 2021 • Roles: Purchaser & End User

while the software does the job I need and is pretty straightforward to navigate I agree with other reviewers here, sage is a detestable, unethical bunch of crooks, support is non existent unless you wish to pay $499 for a support package. I was running 2017 premium and as soon as I turned over to 2021 calendar year I can no longer enter or print sales invoices or pull up sales report. I called in and was told “oh you have the 2017 version, we no longer support that so you can either upgrade or buy the support pack” I’ve run their software for 13yrs and this is how they treat a customer. I have absolutely no doubt that this was caused on their end through the connection manager to force me to pay for the current iteration. Although it is a big pain to switch programs it’ll be worth it to be rid of these shysters, wave here I come. DO NOT BUY SAGE !!

Pros

straight forward and intuitive to use

Cons

Crooked company that holds it's customers to ransom, extortionate pricing, lack of support and unethical business practices...these people need suing...DO NOT BUY SAGE PRODUCTS

Anonymous
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

Support is and pricing is horrible

January 4th, 2021 • Roles: Purchaser & End User

OMG, 2 years in a row have to use their data repair services because Sage 50 2020/2021 would not change over to new calendar year. I mean how hard is it to zero out employee data to start new calendar year, not company YE. That is a $250.00 repair even though we have active support.

Pros

Have used it for years so frustrating I will have to learn Quickbooks now because this is too frustrating to have to go through this again next year at this time.

Cons

Support is and pricing is horrible

Sean
  • Food Products
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

Overpriced subscription model

July 9th, 2020 • Roles: Purchaser & End User

The accounting program is easy to use and I have had no issues with it. The company has changed to a subscription model and crippled the software I purchased originally. 800$ if you want to do payroll…A YEAR!

Pros

Software is easy to use

Cons

The overpriced subscription model they have implemented because they know long time users do not want to switch to a cheaper alternative because they are comfortable with how it works

Anonymous
  • Specialty Retail
  • 1-10 employees
  • Annual revenue $0-$1M
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

The price is extortion

November 22nd, 2019 • Roles: Purchaser & End User

Sage does what it’s supposed to in terms of accounting put the price is extortion. I spent almost a $1000.00 upgrading from Simply 2010 because I began having issues with it on one of our machines and regretted it almost right away. Functionality hasn’t changed except that now I can’t do payroll without paying an annual fee of $1500.00. The cherry on top of this extortion scam is that I’m not available for updates (even though I just bought the software) without buying a service plan.

Pros

It does what it's supposed to.

Cons

It's extortion, there is no other way to put it. You can spend thousands on this program and still expect to get bent over by Sage. I do not recommend this software if you have an alternative and I will never again purchase a Sage product. I don't know how these crooks sleep at night.

Anonymous
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

Sage 50 has gotten too big for their britches

July 15th, 2019 • Roles: Purchaser & End User

Sage 50 has gotten too big for their britches!! They have raised the prices over 75% in 5 years and it’s not worth it. Support is not there! Half the time the tech has no idea what they are talking about! Despite what the Sales desk threatens you with - and they do - not everyone needs the payroll or the help desk. Many users only need the program and can get away with using a older version for many years.!!

Pros

This program - which I've been using since it was DOS based - has always been a great program. Regardless if you are a one man show or have a staff of 300 - it gets the job done... BUT it's not worth $900++. As a user for over 35 years, I no longer recommend this product do the extreme high cost. Instead I show people how to use their current version to get everything they need. THINK before you buy!

Cons

1st - THE PRICE!! 2nd - the THREATS that the sales/customer support give to you as a loyal customer! 3rd - that you as the customer is not always right. Sage 50 staff are trained to believe that they are always right and cannot /will not change their minds otherwise

Anonymous
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

You don't get $900 worth of service or product

March 27th, 2019 • Roles: Purchaser & End User

I agree with other posters…customer service is the worst. You don’t get $900 worth of service or product, which is what the yearly subscription costs. After realizing they automatically charge your account, I immediately tried to get a refund (because I sold my business) and they gave me the run around 3 times, telling me I had to talk to “Rob”. I’m pretty sure Rob doesn’t exist because 3 messages and another phone call later, I got the runaround again with no callback from Rob. They have no interest in keeping customers happy. Do yourself a favour and pay a real person to do it.

Pros

NOT the customer service

Cons

terrible customer service

Anonymous
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

The help desk is not friendly! or willing to even talk to you

February 6th, 2019 • Roles: Purchaser & End User

Sage accounting is ok too use but if you don’t get the help include with the product your screwed for help, and if your subscription runs out and you try to do any changes to the year you PAYED for forget it!! soo much for paying 900$ when your subscription is over its over !! and the help desk is not friendly! or willing to even talk to you if you don’t have a new subscription

Pros

Nothing at all anymore.. was a ok program just got to be to expensive for a small business

Cons

help desk

Anonymous
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

Sage 50 continues to raise their prices

January 14th, 2019 • Roles: Purchaser & End User

Sage 50 continues to raise their prices on their software without adding and additional features or benefits. They moved from a purchased model to a subscription model which I was fine with, but they increased their price from $300 a year to $498 a year with no benefit to me and I’m sick of it

Anonymous
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

If that doesn't meet the standard for extortion I am not sure what does

January 8th, 2019 • Roles: Purchaser & End User

The program is difficult to navigate if your not accountant trained. This passed year I entered a category incorrectly and Sage would not allow me to do my year end. When I called them they told me that my version was too old ( it was working perfectly other than not allowing me to close out the year) and that I would have to download the 2019 version for $499.00 and I would get 1 free year of service so they could help me. If that doesn’t meet the standard for extortion I am not sure what does. I ended up calling my accountant, who visited my home and fixed the error for $75.00. It will be a cold day in Satans living room before I ever buy , support or recommend this product to anyone.

Pros

It is easier than keeping manual books.

Cons

Their service is the worst on the planet.

Anonymous
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

The software works fine until there is a problem

September 11th, 2018 • Roles: Purchaser & End User

The software works fine until there is a problem. In the last six months the phone support line is never able take a call. Voice message asks for name and extension number which I leave. When they call back they do not use the extension number but leave a voicemail on the front desk phone leaving the regular support number to call back. When calling back this number I get he same message. No agents available leave a name and number and they will call me back. I am now 18th on line on a chat support.

Pros

Its simple and intuitive to use.

Cons

Support. Trying to reach someone.

Anonymous
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

It has taken me over 3 weeks to be able to download and utilize Sage

August 30th, 2018 • Roles: Purchaser & End User

It has taken me over 3 weeks to be able to download and utilize Sage. I had problems installing and had called support, was told what to do, didn’t work, one of my co-workers figured it out and we finally got it installed 2 weeks later. Next I have a date issue, it will not allow me to enter any entries as it tells me it has to be before and after same date which is a future date. I call the number of person that was so wonderful at trying to sell me the product, however now that they have my purchase, they put me through to support. Support basically is a taped greeting telling me to go to a web page for help. I go there, and get someone to chat with. That person reconnects me with someone else, and someone else, and then I get hung up on. There were at least 6 people that I “chatted” with online. Eventually one gave a link to click on, which gave me some instructions to read and another link to click. I asked if there were no one that could walk me through this as I am beyond frustrated at this point. She gave me a phone number to call. That number again gave me a voice mail to go to a web page. This is a very expensive product to not have someone that can assist you. That is totally ridiculous. I was warned that Sage is wonderful at sales however once they’ve got you hooked, they are terrible for service. They were right

Pros

right now, not much, hopefully that will change.

Cons

customer service support - there is absolutely none available and total run-a-round, If someone would have helped me, it would have saved me about 40 hours that I spent trying to figure things out. That is a lot of time wasted.

Anonymous
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

Sage 50 Canada Review

June 28th, 2018 • Roles: Purchaser & End User

Run forget you ever heard the name Sage.Thats it don’t ask why just run, kind of like if I yelled Fire or Bear don’t ask just run.

Pros

Absolutely nothing.

Cons

Everything over priced very poor usability.

Anonymous
  • Internet Software & Services
  • 11-50 employees
  • Annual revenue $1M-$10M
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

Sage 50 Canada Review

April 24th, 2018 • Roles: Purchaser & End User

Have to export everything into Excel to do department based reporting, it doesn’t handle deferred income well for managing SaaS based revenue.

Anonymous
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

Sage 50 Canada Review

March 6th, 2018 • Roles: Purchaser & End User

Sage Payroll for Ontario lacks

Pros

It's manageable but has limitations;

Cons

The payroll module lacks ability to calculate statutory holiday pay in Ontario.

Anonymous
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

Sage 50 Canada Review

February 23rd, 2018 • Roles: Purchaser & End User

not really good for a project based comparison and analysis, fairly easy to input data

Jack
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

The company over bills and support is horrible

February 1st, 2018 • Roles: Purchaser & End User

Software is good. My book keeper says there is no support when there are problems. Frequently on hold for 30 minutes or more. within the last 2 years there has been at least 2 occasions when we have been overbilled or billed for product we never asked for.

Pros

The software works well most of the time.

Cons

The company over bills and support is horrible. I don't need to pay book keepers to be on hold for hours.

Anonymous
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

OUTRAGEOUS!!!

January 22nd, 2018 • Roles: Purchaser & End User

I’ve used the software for 17 years. I recently closed my business due to illness & when I tried to find a more affordable option (given I’m no longer in business but have a couple of months of tax stuff, etc. that I need to take care of) I was offered an option of $730.00/year only!!! OUTRAGEOUS!!! When I asked why there is not a cheaper service available to me as a long time good customer, I was told “you signed up for Premium”. I said “but not for life!!!”. So everyone - beware, if you sign up with these people they will keep you for life or turn your program off so that you can “read only”, can’t even switch back to Pro for cheaper as you would have to re-enter everything. This is disgusting!!! I will be going on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter - every social media available to me to show how outrageous this is.

Pros

at this point - NOHING - it was definitely not worth it!

Cons

as above

Marlene
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

No quality customer service

January 8th, 2018 • Roles: Purchaser & End User

No quality customer service. Not enough staff to answer phone calls or deal with online chat

Pros

Software is easy to work with.

Cons

NO customer service available when you need it. Pay over 600.00 per year but no one there to answer for phone support, and waiting in queue for online chat takes hours.

Anonymous
  • Professional Services
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

Sage 50 Canada Review

October 12th, 2017 • Roles: Purchaser & End User

Product is fine but employees are non existent

Pros

Easy to use

Cons

Price gouging by sales team.....unable to speak to anyone too top this

Anonymous
  • Professional Services
  • 51-250 employees
  • Annual revenue $10M-$50M
Overall
★★★★★
★★★★★

Sage 50 Canada Review

January 23rd, 2017 • Roles: Purchaser & End User

You cannot get a hold of anyone and no one ever calls you back

Pros

Not much - price is way too high . May move to Quick books .

Cons

Customer service and support